Tuesday 23 April 2019

Arthur Trimble

Born: 27 April 1915, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Died: 27 August 1962, Los Angeles, California, USA

Speed Boys (1924) as

Arthur Trimble is on the right, with Josephine Adair. This short comedy was part of the 'Century Comedy Kids' series of films.















10 comments:

  1. ARTHUR TRIMBLE was not in any HAL ROACH films so he is not at ANM. Little Rascals History Blogger, MATTHEW LYDICK,
    was curious about him because accused pedophile, GUS MEINS, had directed most of his films and Nitrateville repeated the rumor that he murdered his newlywed wife and committed suicide in 1946 or 47 as MEINS had done earlier.

    I completely debunked the rumor and sent my comments to Silent Comedy Watch Party when they played a BUSTER BROWN film. It brought tears to my eyes writing about ARTHUR and it was probably so gut wrenching that it didn't fit the SCWP's upbeat program and they eventually deleted my comments.

    Born: ROBERT JOHN TRIMBLE 1915 April 27th in Cincinnati, OH (after his father).
    Died: as ROBERT JOHN HORN 1962 August 27th in LA CA and buried in San Diego's veteran's cemetery.

    When he died, of a grand mal epileptic seizure in the street, he was alone and homeless (Death Certificate).
    He was born illegitimate as the Dad (a brilliant,wealthy lawyer) was probably awaiting a final divorce.
    The Mom was probably a "stage mother" in LA who entered the kid in "better baby contests".
    In 1923, the Dad went insane with untreated syphillis and died in June 1924.
    In 1928, he is living in the house with his Mom; her Mom: her sister and 3 brothers and CHARLES HORN, a real estate man whom she marries about 1930. ROBERT JOHN TRIMBLE takes his step-father's name, so I guess he liked him.

    In 1931, the Grandmother dies in this house.
    In 1934, CHARLES HORN commits suicide by gunshot to the head in this house.
    In 1936, ROBERT JOHN HORN is living with his uncles and works as a laborer in their painting business.
    I don't know what ever happened to the Mom.

    In 1940, April Census, ROBERT HORN is a bakery salesman living with his Uncles who are in the real estate business.
    In 1940, Oct. Draft Card, his "next of kin" is his Uncle, OLIVER MINOR, who he lives with.
    In 1941, he marries a divorced woman with 2 toddlers and 1 month later enlists in the US Army (not CA National Guard) and serves until 1945 as a coast watcher.

    In 1946, his unvacinnated, 7 yr. old step-daughter dies of diphtheria. He waited a few days before taking her to the hospital but it was too late.

    This is most of the sad story. I don't see how the kid survived, let alone act in films. He was good at it!
    I can document everything and more. If you need links to sources, just ask.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Once again, Jarvis, your research is thorough and unmatched by anyone else. A very sad story indeed. I will update the dates. I am not good at giving credit on the blog where it's due. I hope that this comment will show visitors to the blog that it was you who carried out this extensive research of which I am truly grateful. No links to sources required. The facts are always better than speculation. Ian

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  2. Born October 15th 1916,San Bernadino,died August 27th 1948. He shot his estranged wife 3 times when she alluded to his relation to Gus Meins,then took same gun and shot himself in the head commiting suicide. His wife Amelia passed at 3:15am and he followed her 22 minutex later at 3:37am He and his wife are buried together in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernadino. He left two letters to his children Mary Diane Trimble and his son Arthur H Trimble and one to his lawyer, a sad ending indeed.

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  3. Raf: The incident you cite above actually happened. The man was Arthur ROSS Trimble. He and Amelia were married
    for 10 years (Oct 29, 1938 License). I've read several newspaper accounts similar to yours. None of them mention
    that ARTHUR was an actor, nor GUS MEINS, nor pedophilia nor comments on "poor performance". That's because
    this was a different guy. They are latter day speculations by "fans" at sites such as nitrateville.com.

    You can follow him in the 1920, 1930, & 1940 Censuses; always in the house his father owned (free & clear) in San
    Bernardino. Their "race" is always given as "Mexican" and all were born in the US except the Mom who was naturalized in 1901.
    ARTHUR ROSS's 1940 Young Mens Draft Card gives his "complexion---dark brown" and born Oct.15th,1917 (sic) in San
    Bernardino as an auto mechanic, married and living at his Dad's address.

    In 1922, ROBERT JOHN TRIMBLE Sr. (Dad of the actor) spent $150,000 to form ARTHUR TRIMBLE Productions to
    make "educational" films which his son would star in. This is the production company for the BUSTER BROWN films.
    I don't think ARTHUR ROSS's family had access to such funds.

    A 1923 magazine blurb says: "ARTHUR TRIMBLE, six-year-old Kentucky boy star.......". His Dad and Mom (and he)
    lived in Covington, KY which is just across the river from Cincinnati, OH. You could say that Covington is a suburb of Cincinnati.
    ROBERT JOHN TRIMBLE's 1941 Marriage Certificate says "also known as ROBERT JOHN HORN" born Cincinnati
    and Dad is "ROBERT JOHN HORN".

    ARTHUR ROSS TRIMBLE:
    1938 Oct 29 p.19 "San Bernardino County Sun": marriage license to AMELIA MONTANO VILDOSOLA.
    1940 Oct 16 Ancestry.com "World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947": b. Oct 15, 1917(sic): r.1038 8th St.:
    .......wife AMELIA.
    1948 Aug 28 p.09 "San Bernardino County Sun": ARTHUR ROSS TRIMBLE (32) died Aug.27: born San Bernardino.

    ROBERT JOHN TRIMBLE / HORN:
    1922 Aug 26 p.39 "Exhibitors Herald":TRIMBLE Productions: https://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/exhibitorsherald15exhi_0759

    1923 May 12 p.62 "Exhibitors Herald": TRIMBLE "Kentucky boy": https://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/exhibitorsherald16exhi_0_0668

    1941 May 10 Marriage License: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93H-ZGYN?i=2465&cc=1804002 .

    If you want more email me: zadockjarvis@yahoo.com .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raf: I made an error above. In the 1941 Marriage Certificate, the groom's father is named "ROBERT JOHN TRIMBLE". Sorry for the confusion but important.

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    2. I can only wish that were true. Yes,I see where a person by the same name came from midwest,Ohio,Ky.et al.I am looking for thee that denotes him as being Mexican but cannot locate it. There are various listings in google one is "Arthur Trimble was born on October 15, 1916 in San Bernardino, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Oh! Buster! (1925), Buster's Girl Friend (1926) and Buster's Mix-Up (1926). He died on August 27, 1948 in San Bernardino. It states him as "white" in the census which should probably be mestizo because this Arthur's mother was Martha Romero. I don't believe she was married but the father of her children,Arthur Trimble,did right byrecognizing his children out of wedlock.Could he not have had 2 families? One married,one not?Do you have a copy of that draft card?

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  4. I will say that this is a humoungous mess. The Arthur Ross Trimble I pulled from May 1940 has him living at 1038 8th st in San Bernadino,Ca.When asked his ethinicity he answered White. He was living with Amelia and a daughter Rosemary Diane. Interestingly, the rent he put down as paying $15 a month and he was renting and a mechanic.He listed himself as single.I know it was 1940 but were rents that low? You are correct as to the wedding announcement 10/29/1938 but I dont know if that was the actual date. People used to put their future wedding dates in advance but I guess 10/29/1938 is the best we are to get. Assuming you are right whatever happened to Arthur Trimble.? Did he dislike showbiz that much?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Raf: "Google is in ERROR!
    In the 1940 Census, ARTHUR ROSS is listed as "M" for "Married" & "H" for "Head of household": AMELIA is listed as both "wife" & "M" for Married".
    In both the 1920 & 1930 Censuses the entire TRIMBLE Family is listed as "Mexican".
    In his 1940 Draft Card, ARTHUR ROSS's "complexion" is given as "dark brown".
    In his 1942 Draft Card, his Dad, HORACE ROSS TRIMBLE's complexion is given as "light brown".
    The point is that there are 2 different ARTHUR TRIMBLEs. The actor had a "pasty" white complexion.
    I can send you photos of all three men's Draft Cards if you email me at the address a couple replies above.
    This site doesn't take attachments. Besides, IAN's Blog isn't intended for discussions like ours.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you Jarvis and Raf. Although this blog isn't for arguments, I do encourage a discussion in order to get to the facts, which are usually blurred by the passage of time. It is nice to see you both enthsiastically delving deeper than the usual researchers who believe everything they read. I know more about Jarvis' sterling work on another site, but Raf feel free to comment on anything else you discover. Thank you both once again for taking an interest in an actor who at least deserves the facts to be available rather than conjecture. I am leaving the main article for now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Jarvis, my name is John Brain, I think I have found something that is relative to the question being raised here. I have found a newspaper article from Dec. 1927 from Cincinnati, which outlines a court case involving Robert John Trimble (Arthur) and his mother Edith Trimble suing to get rights to his late fathers holdings (a house). The article states that Robert J. Trimble (Father) died in 1924, and was previously deemed mentally unfit in 1923. It says that Robert J. Trimble adopted Arthur. And had invested $40.000 in a motion picture venture. This seems to pretty much confirm your statements on who the real Arthur Trimble (actor) was. I can't post the article here, but you can contact me through a private message on Facebook - if you wish - and I can send it to you that way. I really want to see Arthurs convoluted biography information corrected on the WEB. Try sending me a private message to my Facebook page here (where I can give you my Email address) or let me know if there is another way I can send the article to you. Cheers.......... https://www.facebook.com/john.brain.737/

    John Brain

    ReplyDelete

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